{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=C45E9D4B-15EA-4BC9-ABF7-A647CD1587B4", "STATEMENT BY SASC CHAIRMAN JOHN McCAIN ON U.S. POLICY IN SYRIA", "2017-12-13", "2017", "2017-12", "Republican", "House", "AZ", "John McCain", "M000303", "www.mccain.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C. \u00ad\u2013 U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement today on reports that the Trump administration will accept four more years of Bashar al-Assad\u2019s rule in Syria:\r\n\u201cNearly seven years into the Syrian civil war, Bashar al-Assad has the blood of as many as half a million people on his hands. With the support of Vladimir Putin\u2019s Russia, Assad has implemented a brutal reign of terror in Syria\u2014including the use of chemical weapons against his own people\u2014and secured his status as one of the world\u2019s most murderous dictators.\r\n\u201cRecent reports that the Trump administration is willing to accept four more years of Assad\u2019s rule in Syria are deeply disturbing. If true, this will only validate the de facto policy of two successive U.S. administrations that have failed to do anything meaningful to end the slaughter in Syria. Until the United States demonstrates a firm commitment to defending the human rights of the Syrian people and securing our strategic interests in the region, this humanitarian tragedy will continue to grow. Putin\u2019s visit to Syria this week was yet another symbol of how the absence of American leadership has allowed Russia to step in and help fill that void\u2014to the detriment of both our interests and our values.\r\n\u201cAssad\u2019s continued rule will only lead to more violence and radicalization in Syria, and provide fertile ground for extremist groups to grow. U.S. policy in Syria should be clear: Assad must go. We must be willing to back that policy with a strategy for achieving a post-Assad Syria where Syrians can live in peace and security, free from terror. That cannot happen soon enough, and it certainly cannot wait four more years.\u201d\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=C45E9D4B-15EA-4BC9-ABF7-A647CD1587B4"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.776281114667654, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}